1st Edition

Environmental Economics Concepts, Methods and Policies

By Dodo Thampapillai, Matthias Ruth Copyright 2019
    342 Pages 94 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    342 Pages 94 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Environmental Economics explores the ways in which economic theory and its applications, as practised and taught today, must be modified to explicitly accommodate the goal of sustainability and the vital role played by environmental capital.

    Pivoting around the first and second laws of thermodynamics, as well as the principles of ecological resilience, this book is divided into five key parts, which includes extensive coverage of environmental microeconomics and macroeconomics. It drills down into issues and challenges including consumer demand; production and supply; market organisation; renewable and non-renewable resources; environmental valuation; macroeconomic stabilisation, and international trade and globalisation. Drawing on case studies from forestry, water, soil, air quality, and mining, this book will equip readers with skills that enable the analyses of environmental and economic policy issues with a specific focus on the sustainability of the economy.

    Rich in pedagogical features, including key concepts boxes and review questions at the end of each chapter, this book will be a vital resource for upperlevel undergraduate and postgraduate students studying not only environmental economics/ecological economics but also economics in general.

     Part 1. The Environment and the Economy

    1. The Environment and Economics

    2. The Economic System Revised

    Part 2. Microeconomics and the Environment

    3. The Market Model and its Failure

    4. Public Goods and Externalities

    5. Economics of Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources

    6. Economics of Non-Renewable Resources with Renewable Services

    7. Consumer Demand and the Environment

    8. Production, Costs, Supply and Environmental Capital

    9. Market Organisation and the Environment

    Part 3. Macroeconomics and the Environment

    10. Some Important Concepts in Macroeconomics

    11. Environmental Capital: Investment and Depreciation

    12. Environmental Macroeconomics: Short-Run Analysis-I

    13. Environmental Macroeconomics: Short-Run Analysis-Ii

    14. Environmental Macroeconomics: Long-Run Analysis

    15. International Trade and Globalisation

    Part 4. Valuation

    16. Valuation of Environmental Capital: Microeconomic Basis

    17. Valuation of Environmental Capital: Macroeconomic Basis - I

    18. Valuation of Environmental Capital: Macroeconomic Basis - Ii

    Part 5. Policy

    19. Environmental Policies

    20. An Environmental Economics for Sustainability

    Biography

    Dodo J. Thampapillai is a Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, where he teaches Economics and Environmental Economics. He previously held a Personal Chair in Environmental Economics at Macquarie University, Australia, and he presently holds an Adjunct Professorship in the Department of Environmental Sciences. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University.

    Matthias Ruth is Vice-President (Research) and Professor of Economics at the University of Alberta, Canada. He has also held senior appointments in Geography, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Public Policy and Urban Affairs at universities in the United States. His research covers the full spectrum from local to regional, to national and global environmental challenges, as well as the investment and policy opportunities these challenges present. He is a founder of Ecological Economics and founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Urban Climate, serves on the boards of numerous journals and scientific organisations, and collaborates extensively with scientists and policy-makers worldwide.

    "An economics textbook that puts environmental capital in first place, and then uses good economic theory to arrive at truthful conclusions and relevant policies. A big step forward in teaching economics!" -- Herman Daly, Emeritus Professor, University of Maryland, School of Public Policy, USA

    "At last an economics textbook that acknowledges that the basis of an economy is the environment. The potential role of economics in addressing many of the environmental issues facing our planet, especially climate change, has been hampered by the incomplete nature of the basic tenets of neo-classical economics. This book corrects that problem and will provide students with the tools to make much sharper contributions to current policy debates. It is an ideal textbook for any serious environmental economics course." -- Peter Phibbs, Department of Urban and Regional Planning Director, Henry Halloran Trust, University of Sydney, Australia